


In the Water

by ouroborosnakes



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25655827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ouroborosnakes/pseuds/ouroborosnakes
Summary: “I don’t know. What doyouthink we’ll catch, Dave?” Chewing on a toothpick - he wasn’t allowed to smoke in the truck with Sunny present - Dave doesn’t hesitate to answer.“The Loch Ness Monster.”
Relationships: Otacon/Solid Snake
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	In the Water

**Author's Note:**

> otasune week prompt one: nature! this is my only contribution and it's _late_ but c'est la vie.
> 
> i forgot a summary

“What?” David looks up, already well aware Hal had been staring some time, though the brunette immediately adverts his eyes, caught.

“Oh, nothing...” he mumbles, voice trailing off.

“Hal,” comes a sigh, Hal then putting his hands in his pockets and thinking for a moment.

“I’m just surprised you’re wearing sandals, s'all. Didn’t know you _owned_ sandals.”

“Am I supposed to wear boots?” Standing from where he had been crouched down, he looks down his feet, wiggling his toes on the cheap foam fabric. 

“That’d be a sight.”

“Are you ready?” 

“Just about. Waiting on Sunny.” Hoisting his backpack up and over his shoulder, Dave claps Hal’s back with a grin before passing him a bottle of sunscreen and heading towards the front door. 

“Don’t burn up out there!” He calls over his shoulder, going to finish loading up their truck. 

“Uncle Hal!” Comes Sunny’s voice, skipping down the stairs. “I’m ready!” With a fond smile, Hal squats on his ankles and motions her closer. 

“Let me do your hair.”

“I already d-did it.”

“Allow me to redo it,” he clarifies, opening his palm for the hair ties she had pulled her hair back, which she untangles and passes over, then turns around, per Hal’s hand motions. “Tell me if it hurts.” Parting her platinum blonde hair with his fingers, he pulls it into two pigtails, tickling just behind her ears. They jut out cartoonishly but she smiles excitedly and runs back upstairs to look in her mirror. 

“Can you tie my hair up?” David teases, leaning against the door frame. 

“ _You_ , mister, need a haircut.”

“Speak for yourself.” Chuckling, Hal stands and, judging by the look he was receiving, begins applying lotion to his skin, Sunny then waiting patiently for her turn. Dave had already applied a minimal amount onto himself, enjoying one more cigarette before they all climbed into the rickety old truck, air conditioning not quite working and instead feeling the warm summer breeze fill the vehicle.

“What do you th-think we’ll catch, Uncle Hal?” Pale eyes obscured behind ridiculously large sunglasses, Sunny kicks her legs in her seat, looking over to Hal at her left. 

“I don’t know. What do _you_ think we’ll catch, Dave?” Chewing on a toothpick - he wasn’t allowed to smoke in the truck with Sunny present - Dave doesn’t hesitate to answer.

“The Loch Ness Monster.” 

“Really?” They can almost hear the gears in Sunny’s mind turning, thinking of all the possibilities.

“The Loch Ness feeds on trout and carp. If we’re lucky, we can catch a catfish - that’s his favorite.”

“The Loch Ness Monster is a _girl_ ,” Sunny corrects, making Hal snort. 

“Because all girls are monsters.” From across Hal’s lap, Sunny leans over and smacks David’s elbow, cheeks puffed out, feigning anger.

“Would you like to catch the Loch Ness Monster?” Nodding, Sunny opens her mouth and out tumbles a child's vivid imagination of befriending a monster, passing the time until David cuts the engine, pulled off a dirt road. Leaving the windows down just a crack, they climb out, Sunny holding a picnic basket, Hal donning the cooler, Dave with the fishing gear. Sunny, apparently not finished with her fantasy, continues talking as they head down a small gravel trail and to the shallow river that glistens against the sun.

Throwing down a blanket, Hal and Sunny watch David unpack the tackling gear, laying out lures of different shapes and sizes, explaining the purpose for each type. 

"Do you h-have live bait?" Sunny asks curiously, squatting down and hugging her knees. 

"Yeah. Hold your hand out." Before Hal can interject, Dave drops a worm into Sunny's palm, who squeals and drops it immediately. 

"Gross! Dave, don't give her that."

"Do you want it?" Dangling it between his fingers and offering it to Hal, the latter scrambles up and shakes his head. 

"No - cut it out!" With an overly dramatic, defeated sigh, David stabs it onto a hook, dressing another fishing pole in a similar fashion. Passing over a child's pole to Sunny, she examines it, dropping the hook and giggles at the worm wiggling in the dirt. Winding it back up patiently for her, Dave squints out at the water, then kicks off his sandals. 

"I'm gonna test the water. Stay here." Helping Sunny roll her up sundress, Hal watches David wade out slowly, stare down stream, then return to the blanket, grabbing two poles. Hal had already said he didn't want to fish, but there was a third pole in case he decided to join. Not the biggest fan of the outdoors, but it was an attempt at a family outing. 

"Let's put some more sunscreen on you, first," Dave says, wiping a broad streak across Sunny's cheeks with his thumb, blending it in. "You don't want your face to burn. Same to you, Hal, even if you're sitting out here." 

"I already put some on, you know."

"Doesn't hurt to be extra cautious." Slathering an unnecessary amount to Hal's cheek, Dave laughs, kissing the tip of his nose before helping rub it in. "The fish will be scared of us if we're bright red, you know."

"S-so will Nessie!" Sunny inputs, holding onto her pole tightly, ready to hunt, starting to trek towards the water's edge.

"So will Nessie," Dave repeats. Standing and pulling his shirt off, he throws it across his shoulders, grabbing more bait when Hal suddenly grabs his arm.

“David,” Hal whispers, voice tight, grip on his arm tighter. “Don’t take her.”

Dave blinks once, twice. Opens his mouth and closes it then nods, slowly. He runs over responses he could make, arguments and reassurances, but knows when it’s logic against Hal’s anxieties and fears, the latter would win, despite the irrationality of the situation. 

“Okay,” he mouths, cupping Hal’s hand with his other hand, giving it a squeeze. “We’ll stay at the bank. I won’t take my eyes off her.”

Hal swallows heavily before speaking again. “Neither will I,” he says with such weight that Dave knows it’s much more than he lets on, even when he doesn’t intend to show anything. After all these years, David had learned to read the nonverbal things Hal says and can tell he is torn but willing to let Dave make the ultimate decision, as the reasonable one. They linger for a moment before Hal pulls his hand back, fidgeting with the hem of his swim trunks and lets out a slow exhale.

“You can join us, if you want. Just dip your toes in." 

"Maybe," Hal answers with a small smile, pushing his glasses up. "Stay close to her. Please."

"Of course." Kissing the top of his head, David waits to make sure Hal is okay with him leaving, then goes to join Sunny, where she stares in awe at her reflection at the water's edge. "I forgot something."

"What?" Turning around, Dave immediately slips a life vest around her arms, buckling it, bulky over her dress. She frowns, looking up at David. "What's this?"

"Safety vest."

"Why?"

"For safety."

"Oh." Tugging at one of the straps, she dismisses it, albeit a little disappointed it covers up the floral pattern of her dress that Hal had bought for today. "It's big."

"That's good. More room for safety." Holding his hand out, she holds onto him as they slowly wade a couple feet into the river. "There are too many rocks out there, so we're gonna stay right here, okay?" She nods, turning the rod over in her hands. "Do you want to try casting?" Excitedly dropping her pole, Dave snags it quickly, tucking his own beneath his arm. "Let me show you first, okay?"

"Okay!" Pulling back, David tosses the lure out, landing with a soft _plop_ twenty feet out. Slowly reeling it back in, Sunny looks almost disappointed to see the worm again, uneaten. 

"Do you think you can try that?" Fumbling with her grip, she pulls her arm back and lunges forward, forgetting to release her hold, lure dropping at her feet. "Not bad. Let's try that again." Her second time goes better - not as far as David had cast and she reels it back in too quickly, but after a couple more attempts she gets the hang of it. A single round of applause sounds from the grass, a wide grin on Hal's freckled face, cheering her on. Her next throw goes further out, beaming with pride as her dads praise her progress. 

"A-Are you gonna try?" She asks, wiping the sweat from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I was givin' you the reins. Unless you're tired, then I can take over. Are the fish not biting?"

"No."

"I think they're just scared of how good you are. Guess I need to teach those fish a lesson for not biting." Reeling back in her lure, David unhooks the worm and tosses it into the water, Hal drying her pruning feet and handing the other a beer, taking a quick break.

"Nothing?" Hal asks, hair pulled back into an awkward ponytail. 

"Nothing _yet_. I heard this was a good spot, kinda disappointed."

"Don't worry!" Sunny quips, bread crumbs from a packed sandwich on her chin. "Uncle Dave can catch us s-som-mething nice!" 

"That he can." Latching on a different kind of bait, Dave trudges further into the water than he had with Sunny, sitting with Hal and chatting more about the Loch Ness Monster, as her excited voice carries over the sounds of birds and insects alike. After some time Hal makes his way over, holding Sunny's hand, ankles in the water, watching quietly. 

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"You're looking a little red."

"So are you." 

"Should we head back?"

"Sure." Winding the line back, the three of them dry off, pack up and head back to the truck, Hal driving. 

"I know of a good fish market around here, I'm sure we could pick up something."

"Did you have that planned ahead of time?" Hal looks over, a smirk at his lips and doesn't respond. "You had that little faith we'd catch something today, huh?" 

"That's not true."

"You know, Sunny," David starts up, instead, "I used to catch fish with my bare hands."

" _Really_?!"

"Yup." Hal rolls his eyes but doesn't stop Dave from humoring Sunny's multitude of curious questions. "Maybe when you're older I can show you how."

"I hope I can catch Nessie," she says, accompanied with a yawn, one hand holding the fabric of Hal's swim trunks, other hand wrapped around Dave's pinky, staring out at the stretch of highway that extends into the horizon. 

"I know you can," Dave concludes, kissing the top of her head and briefly Hal's cheek, who begins to calculate all the Loch Ness Monster themed fantasies he's going to have to prepare for, now that the idea has been put in Sunny's head. 

"Yeah, that'd be cool," he adds under his breath, flipping his blinker and switching lanes.

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't know how to end it and it's already 3am. hehe. thank you for reading!! make sure to check out the other participants!


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